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Congratulations to the all of the runners that participated (and may still be participating!) in this year’s WDW Marathon Weekend!

If you’re in Disney World now, stop by the Main Street Bakery to pick up one of these colorful cupcakes celebrating the races. There are versions for the marathon, half-marathon, marathon relay, and the Goofy challenge! Yum!

Now, if you’re home and not in Disney World — like me — here’s a bit more about what happened at the Happiest Places on Earth last week!

On to the Round-Up!

The Orange County Register News celebrates Chef Oscar Martinez, who was awarded a 55-years of service award. Stop by and see Oscar at the Jolly Holiday Bakery right now (he’ll return to the Carnation Cafe when it re-opens). Congratulations, Oscar!

Eating (and drinking) around the World features Cabanas’ Strawberry Margarita from the Modern Mixology seminar at the Swan and Dolphin Food & Wine Classic. (I can attest — it was delicious!)

PassPorter Moms Podcast graciously had me on to discuss the 2012 Disney Dining Plan. Listen to a discussion on the changes to the plan this year as well as the pros and cons of purchasing the DDP! (DFB Editor Kim highly recommends listening to this fun podcast! :D)

This holiday season marks the last holiday season for Disneyland’s Blue Ribbon Bakery. Located on Main St. USA for the past almost 22 years, Blue Ribbon Bakery made its Disneyland debut on April 6, 1990 when it replaced the Sunkist Citrus House (fresh squeezed orange juice or lemonade anyone?).

Blue Ribbon Bakery

Known for its staple Disneyland treats like Cinnamon Rolls, Matterhorn Macaroons, seasonal goodies, and a good ol’ cup of coffee, tea, hot chocolate or cider, Blue Ribbon Bakery was the perfect go to stop for a quick snack or pick me up upon entering the park.

Blue Ribbon Bakery Cinnamon Roll

Giant Display Matterhorn Macaroon

Holiday Beverage Menu

In honor of Blue Ribbon’s awesomeness, I feel like we should pay homage to its last holiday season. Here are some treats that were offered this year, along with a fun video depicting [Read more…]

Welcome back Carrie Hayward as she returns to show us specialty menu items from Disneyland’s Soundsational Annual Passholder event! And don’t forget to read Carrie’s bio at the end of this post — she’s pretty amazing!

Over the last week, Disneyland has hosted two after-hours parties to give annual passholders an up-close look at the new Soundsational parade and how it was created. Four special menu items were introduced for the events, each available at a different location and only between the hours of 4pm and midnight that day. However, word on the street is that one or more of them may have been a test for future inclusion on park menus.

Soundsational Eats

Let’s see how the four potentially new menu items stack up!

Mac & Cheese Hot Dog – Main Street Refreshment Corner
Definitely the most talked-about special menu item, this diet-busting snack featured one of Disneyland’s new larger — and reportedly more flavorful hot dogs — smothered in neon macaroni & cheese and topped with bacon bits.

The last Disney hot dog I ate was at Walt Disney World (at Disneyland, I go straight for the corn dogs) and it didn’t seem particularly puny or bland, so I can’t comment on whether the new dog is an improvement.

Disneyland’s has a snappy casing and a salty, beefy taste. The macaroni and cheese was not quite up to par with my beloved Walt Disney World Mickeyroni — more plasticky and less cheesy — but it still had that satisfyingly creamy quality that tells you you’re eating a hot dog covered with mac ‘n’ cheese!

The bacon crumbles were the packaged kind you can buy at the market and didn’t taste like much of anything… think of them as savory sprinkles.

Mac n Cheese Hot Dog

Soundsational “Cupcake” – Blue Ribbon Bakery
As it turned out, there was no Soundsational cupcake at Blue Ribbon Bakery on either party night, and at the first party, bakery cast members acted as if the sign announcing the cupcake was the first they’d heard of it. By the time the second party rolled around, the chef had pulled something together on the fly — a chocolate-chocolate chip muffin topped with cream cheese frosting and a white chocolate Mickey pumpkin.

This sounded like it might be weird, but the muffin was so [Read more…]

More Disney food news and updates — this time, we’re back in Disneyland Park…

Jolly Holiday Bakery and Cafe Replaces Blue Ribbon Bakery

Recently, the Plaza Pavilion at the end of Disneyland’s Main Street USA has been used as the Annual Pass Processing Center. For foodies, this is just wasted space! The good news is that January 2012 will see the opening of the Jolly Holiday Bakery and Cafe at this location. Look for an expanded menu and outdoor seating!

Inspired by the “Jolly Holiday” song in Mary Poppins, I wonder if they’ll offer “raspberry ice…and then some cakes and tea”. For certain, the next part of the song will not be reproduced: “Order what you will; There’ll be no bill; It’s complimentary.”

At the same time, the Blue Ribbon Bakery will shut its doors as part of the Main Street, U.S.A. revitalization.

Carnation Cafe Indoor Seating

Carnation Cafe (circa 1997) will then close for refurbishment at the beginning of the year. When it re-opens, the table-service restaurant will offer indoor seating once again as [Read more…]

The new Soundsational Parade has debuted in Disneyland and there’s a specialty cupcake to commemorate it!

The cupcake has marbled vanilla cake (yellow, blue, and red) with marbled pineapple raspberry frosting. The whole thing is covered in a light dusting of edible glitter and topped off with a white chocolate Soundsational Mickey icon.

It’s apparently a breakfast-y week here on the Disney Food Blog, so here’s another fun, nourishing post about the most important meal of the day! When your main goal is conquering Space Mountain after rope drop or securing FastPasses for Toy Story Mania, a quick breakfast will help get you there before thousands of your fellow vacationers!

Every time I visit Disneyland, I take a peek inside the Blue Ribbon Bakery on Main Street to see if there is anything new and exciting. When I saw this cute little number with a cherry on top, I decided that my arm would not need to be twisted to try it. I mean Cherry Granola. That sounds healthy right? Granola? Isn’t that good for you!?!

Cherry Granola Muffin

In honor of Valentine’s Day, Disneyland has created this tasty little treat that won’t be around long. This seasonal muffin looks a little like a cupcake, but it’s not at all as sweet.

After purchasing one, my friend and I went over to my favorite little “stoop” a few doors down from the Blue Ribbon Bakery and took a seat on the stairs that are [Read more…]

This Matterhorn Macaroon, named and shaped after the famous Matterhorn mountain icon in Disneyland, is a new arrival on the snack scene in the west coast park.

A “mountain” of coconutty goodness dipped in white chocolate “snow,” it’s a fun reminder of the other times Disney’s made edible representations of their well known iconic structures — castles, Mickey Mouse, and Spaceship Earth being just a [Read more…]

As many of you know, Disney Company and Disney parks history is of great interest to me, so when James (a.k.a. @DisneyNorth) sent along this fantastic menu, I couldn’t wait to share it with you.

Here’s a short quote from his email, describing his vintage find:

Thought you may find this item interesting. I bought it recently on eBay. It is a 1962 Carnation Ice Cream Parlor menu from Disneyland, that doubles as a postcard. Check out the prices on some of those sundaes!!!

Menu
In addition to the burgers, franks, and grilled cheese, the restaurant showcased sundaes created to highlight different parts of Disneyland, like Frontierland’s Old Timer, made with Peppermint Stick ice cream; and Fantasyland’s Snow White Sundae, made with Vanilla ice cream, coconut, and marshmallow topping.

Here are the images of the menu; you can click each photo for a larger version.

I love that the sandwiches are “delightfully” garnished with cottage cheese; and that the Mammoth Matterhorn Mountain sundae, “One of the world’s largest sundaes,” with 5 scoops of ice cream, sliced pineapple, 5 different sundae toppings, sliced banana, chopped almonds, whipped cream and cherry, costs just $1.00.

This description is to the right of the menu when the postcard is fully unfolded:

Here’s the postcard back of the menu ($.03 postage!):

Carnation Ice Cream Parlor History
Carnation Ice Cream Parlor opened with Disneyland in 1955. An outdoor dining area was added in 1977, and the restaurant was closed in 1997. The indoor area now houses the counter-service Blue Ribbon Bakery, and the outdoor area survives as the Carnation Cafe, serving table-service meals.

You can read a great memory of the Carnation Ice Cream Parlor’s final day over on mouseplanet.